Fantasy Football, What We Learned in Week 3

Week 3 was one of the crazier weeks in the NFL in recent memory and we’re here to break it all down and help you catch up on everything Fantasy Football.

I’d be lying if I said I had any idea what in the world we just witnessed in Week 3 of the NFL season (and we still have one more game tonight). Marcus Grant may have summed it up the best on Twitter when he said it was the Upside Down from Stranger Things and there is so much to unpack from this week. Let’s not waste anymore time and just jump right into it to a jam-packed Fantasy Football Week 3.

AFC East – Fantasy Football Week 3

New England Patriots – Loss vs Detroit Lions, 26-10

As if Week 3 couldn’t get any crazier, the Patriots went into Detroit and got absolutely smoked. It was clearly a frustrating day for fantasy owners as the big guns of Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski were awful in this one. I’m not sure why Gronk only sees five targets in an offense that lacks any real weaponry right now. Yes, he’s easier to cover given what’s around him in this offense. He’s still open, even when he’s covered. This effort was pretty shocking but one development that has to really concern you is Rex Burkhead left the game with an injury, which would be his second on the season.

He only saw two touches while Sony Michel saw 15 and James White saw seven. I might actually consider dropping Burkhead if the injury is going to hold him out and would understand anyone who did it regardless of injury status. He’s only seen eight touches in two games. Aside from that, Michel might be worth buying low on and this offense suddenly looks like they miss Julian Edelman a lot and will benefit from Josh Gordon getting on the field. His fantasy impact will be hard to gauge but at least he gives teams something to account for. The offense looks like it could use a spark. It would also likely be very unwise to count out Tom Brady, despite his age.

New York Jets – Loss vs Cleveland Browns, 21-17 

Quincy Enunwa still seeing almost 25 percent of the targets and is a must start basically every week, even in tough matchups. That’s who Sam Darnold turns to even though he didn’t look great in this one. It’s hard to be too surprised that he struggled here because it was a short week, he was on the road and the Browns defense is going to be legit for the entire season it appears. The running backs are really going to be an issue to predict moving forward. Bilal Powell and Isaiah Crowell both split the carries basically evenly. Powell was the far more efficient back with a 5.2 yards per carry to Crowell’s 2.1. A weird part was that Crowell actually saw more targets and he’s leading in red zone rush attempts on the season, 8-2. It’s going to be hard to trust either one as more than a flex moving forward and that’s about the only components of the Jets offense that are interesting.

Buffalo Bills – Win vs Minnesota Vikings, 27-6

What in the world happened in this game?? It’s really not hyperbole to say this is one of the biggest upset in recent NFL history as it’s been 26 years since we’ve seen an underdog as large as the Bills were win outright –

I have to give Josh Allen a lot of credit here as he was good for fantasy, with two rushing touchdowns. He may not have thrown any interceptions but he did dodge fumbling three times. That doesn’t mean I’m excited to start him anytime soon, but maybe he can be a cheap DFS option for tournaments moving forward. This offense is still extremely ugly for fantasy and as long as LeSean McCoy is out, Allen is the only other fantasy relevant player. Even then, it’s just barely.

Miami Dolphins – Win vs Oakland Raiders, 28-20

This offense is a total mess from a fantasy standpoint. The really bad news is the Dolphins are 3-0 in real football and that means that Adam Gase has no reason to change his offense. It’s spread so thin right now that five players saw at least four targets and they only ran the ball with their running backs 11 times. The Dolphins did only have the ball for a little over 21 minutes but it’s still crazy that Kenyan Drake saw five carries and two receptions. I’m struggling for reasons why he and Frank Gore continue to split work and a nearly even rate but it sort of is what it is right now.

The passing game can’t be relied upon for anyone. Kenny Stills, Danny Amendola, Jakeem Grant, DeVante Parker and Albert Wilson are are eating from the same plate here and there’s just not enough to go around. Ryan Tannehill might be a fine streamer in 2QB leagues once bye weeks hit but he’s dangerous. It was just last week he was under 200 yards passing. This is just not a fun offense to be a part of right now. If you can move Stills with three touchdowns already, it’s not the worst idea.

AFC North Fantasy Football Week 3

Pittsburgh Steelers – TBD 

The Steelers still have to play tonight and they need to show up in this one. Every team in their division handled their business this week and amid rumors of trading star running back Le’Veon Bell and the theatrics of Antonio Brown during the week, the knives are out for this team. The defense looks totally lost and the offense is going to have to out-score the Bucs, which might be a tall order. For those still saying that Antonio Brown is going to get the “squeaky wheel” game, he was leading the NFL in targets coming into Week 3. He’s been getting the grease, now the production that we’re all used to needs to follow.

Cleveland Browns – Win vs New York Jets, 21-17 

I don’t want to overstate things and this could look foolish, but the Browns may have gone through a franchise altering moment on Thursday night. Tyrod Taylor was having a nightmare game before he was unfortunately knocked out of it because of a concussion. That paved the way for rookie Baker Mayfield to take over and he was lights out. He dodged a few bullets but was overall accurate and came up large in the moment. Every pass catcher might have gotten a nice upgrade and the offense should be concentrated through Jarvis Landry, David Njoku and even Antonio Callaway.

The rookie receiver had a rough game in real life with drops and poor routes but he drew 10 targets, behind only Landry’s 15. Mayfield will almost surely be the starter and that helps Carlos Hyde now as well. Defenses have to give the passing game a little more attention and that will open up lanes for Hyde to be an RB2. Make no mistake, Hyde is the man in this backfield. After proclaiming Duke Johnson would get more involved and trailing almost the whole game, Cleveland got Johnson four touches.

Baltimore Ravens – Win vs Denver Broncos, 27-14 

Anyone who doesn’t think that this Baltimore backfield is basically a full-blown committee just isn’t paying attention. Yes, Alex Collins can still be good for fantasy and is still getting enough work to be started every week. However, Buck Allen is going to remain involved in the passing game and in the red zone. He poached receptions in this game and score two touchdowns. Both players are flex options every week, especially as we get into the bye weeks coming up.

The passing game continues to flow mostly through John Brown, as he racked up another 80+ yards on just five receptions. He and Michael Crabtree are the clear 1A and 1B at this point but to me it’s not even that close as to which one I want. It’s John Brown by a mile for the upside. Even if they’re seeing the same amount of targets, Brown is playing the far more dangerous role in this offense. Joe Flacco is never really on the radar and only threw for one touchdown in this matchup.

Cincinnati Bengals – Loss to Carolina Panthers, 31-21 

If it wasn’t for a whopping four interceptions, Andy Dalton would have had a massive fantasy day. He threw for over 350 yards and two touchdowns but the turnovers really hurt. The target distribution was pretty even between A.J. Green, Tyler Boyd, Gio Bernard and Tyler Eifert with everyone getting their share. Green did leave the game with a groin injury but it’s not thought to be serious. We’ve seen how that movie ends before so hopefully Green is OK coming into next week. What we might be seeing is a third year breakout from Tyler Boyd. I had him written up if you check out my Twitter timeline and his involvement in the offense cannot be ignored any longer. The past two weeks he’s turned 16 targets into 12 receptions, 223 yards and two touchdowns. He needs to be owned and could be on the DFS radar once again this upcoming week.

I really want to see how many snaps Eifert played because if he’s playing a lot, he definitely needs to be owned everywhere. We did see his snaps jump up over 64 percent in Week 2, so hopefully that correlates later in the week. We don’t yet know if Joe Mixon will be back for Week 4 but if he isn’t, Bernard will carry the load. The Falcons have also given up over 20 receptions and 200 yards to running backs the past two weeks so you know what we’re doing with that.

AFC West –  Fantasy Football Week 3

Los Angeles Chargers – Loss vs Los Angeles Rams, 35-23 

I haven’t totally sorted through the waiver priorities just yet, but receiver Mike Williams is going to be up there without a doubt. He has had an excellent season so far and caught another two touchdown passes today. Some of that work came against Marcus Peters before he left with an injury, which makes it even more impressive. Without any real threat at the tight end position and no reliable receiver outside of Keenan Allen and the running backs, Williams could really emerge as a great fantasy option on a weekly basis. He was a high draft pick for the Chargers for a reason even though they had a good offense when they made the pick. Big things should be expected of him the rest of the way. The Chargers didn’t go off against a tough defense so it was pretty much status quo for their other players. Philip Rivers is going to be a good option in other matchups, Allen is still a WR1 and Melvin Gordon and Austin Ekeler make a lethal duo out of the backfield. You know who you need to use from this offense, which is always comforting.

Kansas City Chiefs – Win vs San Francisco 49ers, 38-24

This Chiefs offense continues to terrify. The picture up top is Travis Kelce telling Patrick Mahomes that the Chiefs offense might just be on an upward plane to the best in football. They were able to put up 38 points despite “only” three touchdowns from Patrick Mahomes and another 314 yards passing. He’s been incredible so far, setting a new record for touchdowns in the first three weeks and I’m already looking forward to Week 5 when he plays the Jaguars. Tyreek Hill took a backseat in this one with just five targets but Sammy Watkins owners have to feel comfortable. He’s now second on the team in targets behind only Travis Kelce, who had another massive day with over 100 receiving yards on a team-leading 10 targets.

Kareem Hunt is the player that’s hardest to gauge from this offense. He has been getting 15+ carries every single week, which is great. He also scored twice this week. The bad news is he’s totally uninvolved in the passing game. Mahomes doesn’t check down with the hand cannon that is his right arm. Even through some ups and downs, it’s very hard to suggest trading away a running back that’s so involved in an offense this good. Those players aren’t growing on trees. Mahomes has to stop throwing so many touchdowns at some point…at least that’s what the statistical analysis says.

Denver Broncos – Loss vs Baltimore Ravens, 27-14 

Before Royce Freeman truthers take a victory lap, keep in mind that Phillip Lindsay was ejected for throwing punches. It still was a pretty ugly line for the rookie since it didn’t happen until close to halftime but at least he got five yards a carry on his minimal work. Emmanuel Sanders and Demaryius Thomas both had nice days, though Sanders had to get a 35 yard rushing touchdown to make his day the better version. At least Thomas got over the 20 yard barrier today.

Another takeaway is if you think the Broncos might lose, Devontae Booker saw seven targets in this one. If you need a super cheap PPR-style back in DFS, he’s at least potentially on the radar. The Denver defense still has a good reputation, but they’ve given up 24, 19 and 27 points so far this year. Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs loom next week and that might expose that this defense hasn’t been great so far. Sanders and Thomas might get a ton of work next week just by default and they still are commanding the majority of the target share on a weekly basis.

Oakland Raiders – Loss vs Miami Dolphins, 28-20

Another week, another ride on the Amari Cooper Roller Coaster. I’ve been off the ride for awhile, but these kinds of games are exactly why I avoided him like the plague during the offseason. You probably didn’t start him in Denver and watched him catch 10 passes. Then you start him in Miami and he catches two for 17 yards. This stat is also kind of crazy –

Yeah, that’s pretty ugly. Apparently Jordy Nelson isn’t a total zero because he went hog-wild today with a massive 173 yards on six catches while scoring a touchdown. He saw three more targets than Cooper did today but he came into the game fourth in target share. It’s something that we want to keep an eye on but I’m certainly not ready to start Nelson at this point. Also, I’m very interested to see how often Xavien Howard covered Cooper. I suspect that may have had a lot to do with Cooper’s performance, or lack thereof.  Marshawn Lynch continues to chug along with plenty of volume and you’re just hoping he can get into the end zone for you. There’s nothing fun about him but he’s a valuable fantasy piece. You just have to realize when he doesn’t score, he’s likely not going to do much. The passing game is such a guessing game at this point that it’s very hard to accurately project moving forward.

AFC South – Fantasy Football Week 3

Houston Texans – Loss vs New York Giants, 27-22

I’m feeling pretty decent with all my shares of Will Fuller right now and anyone who vies him as a boom or bust player still needs to put that narrative to rest. Deshaun Watson sits atop the NFL right now in average intended air yards at 12.1 and that fits into the wheelhouse of what Fuller does so well, it’s similar to Mahomes and Hill in Kansas City. It’s peanut butter and jelly, one of the GOAT combos. Fuller and DeAndre Hopkins are still drawing roughly 50 percent of the targets from Watson and this game saw 11 for Fuller and 10 for Hopkins. That was 55 percent of Watson’s 40 attempts in the game. Fuller is going to produce almost every single game and should be viewed as a WR2 moving forward. In addition to the offense being funneled through Watson, his two favorite receivers and Lamar Miller, the defense hasn’t been great so far. They’re likely going to be in higher scoring affairs than not almost by default if the defense doesn’t get moving here a little bit. Even if they do, you know exactly where everything is coming from.

Jacksonville Jaguars – Loss vs Tennessee Titans, 9-6

Well, this is what we call a letdown game. After beating the New England Patriots last week, Jacksonville’s offense laid a huge egg without Leonard Fournette. Blake Bortles didn’t get over 160 yards, massively damaging his splits without Fournette. T.J. Yeldon was perfectly fine without Fournette, totaling 90 yards on 13 total touches. He also finished second on the team in targets and it’s really hard to take away much from this game. It would be nice if the Jags were reliable but it just doesn’t appear to be the case. Bortles is just a streaming option and receivers like Keelan Cole and Dede Westbrook and volatile options in this passing game. Fournette will be the only locked in starter on the team and you know you can roll Yeldon out as a top 25-30 back if he’s not.

Tennessee Titans – Win vs Jacksonville Jaguars, 9-6 

Maybe it’s time to float an offer to the Derrick Henry owner in your league. I wouldn’t send anything major but Henry has seen 15+ carries in consecutive weeks. Despite never getting over 60 yards, it’s encouraging that he’s starting to get consistent carries. I might not start him next week against the Eagles but he could be a good piece moving forward. Volume is always going to be king. It would be nice if the passing game can get it going but Marcus Mariota probably shouldn’t have played in this game. It’s tough to be an NFL quarterback if you can’t feel some of your fingers and grip the football correctly. The lack of a passing attack is killing Corey Davis right now as well. The four targets is discouraging but keep the matchup in mind. Jacksonville has one of the better secondaries in football and Davis is the only passing game weapon the Titans have right now. Hopefully there are better times ahead for this offense as a whole.

Indianapolis Colts – Loss to Philadelphia Eagles, 20-16 

The largest takeaway from this game comes form a play that Andrew Luck was not permitted to take part in and that was a Hail Mary attempt at the end of the game. Some people might be willing to blow this off but let’s be realistic. There’s definitely something still up with his shoulder. We’re taking about a quarterback that didn’t throw a football for well over a calendar year with a throwing shoulder injury. His yards per attempt is only better than Sam Bradford, Nick Foles, Mitchell Trubisky, Tyrod Taylor and Blaine Gabbert. Now he’s not going to throw a Hail Mary? This isn’t a situation where the punter and kicker do different jobs. The Colts did not feel comfortable with him throwing the ball as far as he could, period. They have no running game between Nyheim Hines or Jordan Wilkins. They have no deep passing threat whatsoever and just showed the NFL their hand. T.Y. Hilton might be best treated as a flex right now and the tight ends of Jack Doyle(when healthy) and Eric Ebron are starters just by default. In a 1QB league, you can think about making a switch from Luck to a waiver wire option at this point.

NFC East – Fantasy Football Week 3

Philadelphia Eagles – Win vs Indianapolis Colts, 20-16 

The return of Carson Wentz saw the Eagles walk away with a win but it’s a little interesting from a fantasy lens. We don’t want to take too much away from his first start of the season but the passing tree was pretty condensed. 26 of his 37 attempts went to either a tight end or a running back. Now, Alshon Jeffery wasn’t back yet so the offense is still missing an important element. However, it’s worth noting that rookie tight end Dallas Goedert finished second on the team with seven targets and caught all seven for 70+ yards and a touchdown. That’s the way to earn your quarterback’s trust and Goedert might be featured in the waiver column. We really shouldn’t be too surprised, but Philly used multiple backs even with Jay Ajayi and Darren Sproles out. Corey Clement and Wendell Smallwood each saw double-digit carries and four or more targets in the passing game. Smallwood actually showed a little bit here as he produced 91 total yards and a touchdown. Ajayi should be back next week and would presumably slide right back into his role. The offense will only get better as they get healthy and Wentz gets more comfortable.

Washington Redskins – Win vs Green Bay Packers, 31-17

We’re only three weeks in, but I’m already annoyed with the two headed monster that is the Washington backfield. You were feeling pretty comfortable with Chris Thompson coming in, seeing as he was third in the NFL in receptions. Well, he’s certainly not third anymore after he only caught one pass for zero yards on two targets. The issue is if he’s not getting the receptions, there’s not much rushing upside to fall back on. Adrian Peterson tormented the Pack with 120 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries. If you can guess right about the Redskins, the backfield is sort of easy. When they win, it’s Peterson. When they’re losing, it’s Thompson. The problem is they lost to the Colts but they beat the Packers. Guessing their outcome hasn’t been easy so far. The passing game continues to be pretty boring. Jordan Reed was the only player to see over four targets and is the only cog in the passing game that is worth starting. I’m not ready to go after Vernon Davis and his 70 yards today coming from two targets.

New York Giants – Win vs Houston Texans, 27-22 

The Giants offense looked far better than I though it might in this game and that was largely because Eli Manning came to play in this one. He finished 25/29 and almost threw for 30 yards. Saquon Barkley racked up over 100 scrimmage yards as he’s going to be won’t to do this year and scored a touchdown, while Odell Beckham caught nine passes for over 100 yards. Those two are locked into their roles, even though Beckham might have some ups and downs left with Manning under the helm. One big thing that’s going to bear watching this week is the status of Even Engram. Unfortunately, it looks like the tight end position might take another hit since he left this game and was ruled out fairly quickly. That doesn’t automatically mean much for Week 4, but if he’s out, Sterling Shepard vaults into immediate WR3 value. That’s especially true this week because the Giants face the Saints. Shepard caught six of seven targets for 80 yards and a touchdown and would have a great chance to repeat that this week without Engram.

Dallas Cowboys – Loss vs Seattle Seahawks, 24-13 

This might be the easiest offense to break down in the league because I can safely say with no exaggeration that it’s Ezekiel Elliot and absolutely nothing else. This passing game is an utter disaster and while there’s criticism to be laid at the feet of Dak Prescott, he’s dealing with a bottom five skill position group. It’s nearly as bad as the Buffalo Bills. The big development on the defensive side of the ball is Sean Lee left the game and didn’t return. If he’s out, the Dallas defense has seen a massive decrease in performance. Playing the Lions next would be a pretty tall task and Kerryon Johnson would be on the DFS radar for sure.

NFC North – Fantasy Football Week 3

Green Bay Packers – Loss vs Washington Redskins, 31-17 

On most days, the Packers getting smoked in Washington would have been a bigger storyline. We didn’t really get to see how the running back rotation is going to shake out since they were trailing for a lot of the game and Jamaal Williams and Aaron Jones split work just about evenly as far as carries go. The snap percentage doesn’t help either –

I still think that Williams will be more involved than the Aaron Jones fans want him to be but this game likely wasn’t the best to try to judge. Montgomery was likely just a game script thing since Green Bay was playing from behind. Randall Cobb had a second straight awful game, turning 11 targets into four receptions and 23 yards. Geronimo Allison was much more efficient even though he only saw four targets and he’s quickly becoming my favorite secondary receiver. Davante Adams continues to be a back-end WR1 as long as Rodgers is out there, and you’re hoping that Rodgers and his knee make it through the season. It would be nice to see Jimmy Graham find the end zone at some point this year, but at least you have a tight end that’s going to see 5+ targets basically every game. It’s an odd game that the Packers didn’t score a ton of points but I’m not ready to think things have massively shifted.

Detroit Lions – Win vs New England Patriots, 26-10 

Aside from the Lions basically working the Patriots all night, the biggest takeaway here is we have a new breakout in the running back ranks and it’s Kerryon Johnson. He was excellent against New England Sunday night, ripping of gobs of yardage and finally giving the Lions their first 100 yard rusher since Reggie Bush. Now, the next step is for lumbering LeGarrette Blount to not receive equal amount of carries to produce half the yardage and we’ll be all set. All three of the Lions receivers got some work in as Kenny Golladay, Golden Tate and Marvin Jones all saw at least six targets. They’re every week starts and we can all hope that the Lions coaches watch the film and realize who needs to carry the water out of their backfield. He would bring an element to the Lions offense that they haven’t had in a very long time.

Minnesota Vikings – Loss vs Buffalo Bills, 27-6 

We’ve already covered how major of the upset but there’s a lot to unpack from the Minnesota side. Kirk Cousins was flat out terrible and couldn’t stop turning the ball over and only averaged a 5.4 yards per attempt in this one. That’s frankly pretty pathetic and owners have to hope this was one of the worst games they’ll get from him all season long. Seeing as how they were gettin blasted all game, they ran the ball four times if you take away two rushing attempts for Cousins. It will be interesting to see how the running game bounces back on a short week this week at the Rams but you can’t feel great about it, even if Dalvin Cook makes his return. Another big factor that I want to see from this one is who Tre’Davious White covered. If it was Stefon Diggs, I’ll just chalk up his putrid game to that element since White is a really good corner. However, Adam Thielen once again nearly doubled Diggs in targets and appear to have the much safer floor at this point. He’s seen a massive 44 targets so far and has gained at least 102 yards in each contest. Thielen would seem to be a high-end WR2 with Diggs playing the role of upside or bust right now. Kyle Rudolph is a TE1 every week, especially with how bad the position is right now. They might need all the points they can get Thursday night.

Chicago Bears – Win vs Arizona Cardinals, 16-14 

One of the biggest problems with comparing the Bears this year to the Rams of 2017 appears to be that Mitchell Trubisky isn’t quite ready to take that step yet. Keep in mind, he was the starter for 13 games at UNC and then started 12 games for the John Fox-led 2017 Bears. Maybe it shouldn’t surprise us that he’s not at NFL caliber yet but the issue for fantasy owners is he’s the weak link in this Chicago offense. Until that changes, the passing game is capped. Allen Robinson and Trey Burton aren’t going to produce like we thought and they might need to luck into a touchdown to make it worth your while. The running game is hurt as well since defenses don’t respect Trubisky as a passer right now. Jordan Howard got 26 touches but was able to only churn out 81 total yards and a touchdown. That’s a fine fantasy day but he needs the passing game to open up to hit his RB1 ceiling. Anthony Miller suffered a separated shoulder which is unfortunate for the rookie but maybe Robinson and Burton see a few extra targets this upcoming week.

NFC West – Fantasy Football Week 3

Arizona Cardinals – Loss vs Chicago Bears, 16-14

If you happen to listen to the Rotocurve podcast, you already know how I feel when it comes to Mike McCoy but now I’m bent out of shape all over again. This dude has got to GO, and soon. Let’s start with one of the best to ever lace up the cleats, Larry Fitzgerald. Exactly what gameplay does an NFL offensive coordinator draw up where LARRY FITZGERALD gets only two targets? How exactly does that help the Arizona Cardinals win a football game? That’s an absolute disgrace and should be cause for termination on the spot, unless there was an injury we don’t know about. Was it nice to see Christian Kirk get involved with seven receptions on eight targets? It sure was. Now try throwing the ball to a Hall of Fame wide receiver, who is one of the best weapons this putrid, pop-gun offense has. My goodness.

Now, let’s get into David Johnson. He caught a touchdown early on in this game and there was much rejoicing across the land. Who knew that DJ could be really good in the passing game? It’s a tough concept to figure out. They pretty much stopped giving him the ball at that point, I guess because you don’t want to win the game by too many points? The most egregious DJ moment was summed up by Andy Holloway from the Fantasy Footballers –

The idea that David Johnson comes off the field is an abomination, pure and simple. McCoy is a disaster and the Cardinals need to get him out of the picture as fast as possible. That doesn’t even describe how patently unfair it was to throw rookie Josh Rosen in at the end of the fourth quarter, cold, to try to win the game. Hang onto to DJ and Fitzgerald and pray for a firing. Kirk might make the waiver wire if McCoy gets got like he richly deserves.

Seattle Seahawks – Win vs Dallas Cowboys, 24-13

Hey, look what happens when you load up Chris Carson with some carries. He’s actually a pretty decent running back and he chugged his way to 100 yards on the ground while adding in two receptions. Maybe he’s finally earned the job but Pete Carroll is one of the least trustworthy coaches in the NFL. Tyler Lockett showed why he’s the receiver to own from this corps until Doug Baldwin gets back. Brandon Marshall isn’t catching 50 yard touchdown passes anymore. The Will Dissly experience came to a screeching halt, unsurprisingly. Russell Wilson was fine in this game, but it’s not exactly the best sign for his fantasy outlook that called 37 run plays and Wilson only threw the ball 26 times. It’s kind of difficult to trade quarterbacks but I’d dangle Wilson out there to see if you can get someone to nibble at around the price you paid for him. Seattle isn’t a very exciting offense right now.

Los Angeles Rams – Win vs Los Angeles Chargers, 35-23 

The Rams are good at playing offense at the NFL level. After that scorching hot take, I don’t know how your eyes will survive but this offense is potentially even more scary than the 2017 version. Not only is Brandin Cooks playing at a higher level, Jared Goff is on fire in the early going. He’s taken a very large step forward and this has to be massively encouraging as an owner of any piece of this offense. Robert Woods had the breakout game that he was due coming to him and I’m not sure how anyone can defend the weapons on field when they combine with Sean McCoy on the sidelines. Goff is turning into an every week starter, as are his receivers and oh ya, they have one of the best running backs in the game with Todd Gurley. This game against Minnesota on Thursday is wildly interesting.

What could be a major factor for the Rams is the status of corners Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib. Both players left this matchup and if they are lost for any significant amount of time, the Rams defense takes a considerable hit. We obviously never root for injuries but if they are out for any amount of time, that likely just means the Rams need to score more points. This team is in the running for one of the best teams in NFL and their offense is heavily concentrated through five players. It’s a fantasy dreamland.

San Francisco 49ers – Loss vs Kansas City Chiefs, 38-24 

This offense may have just fallen apart in front of our eyes today. The team is assuming that quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo tore his ACL towards the end of the game today and usually when the team says it, that means it’s true. C.J. Beathard would be next in line and saying he’s likely a downgrade probably is being too kind. He shouldn’t have been on the field last year but he threw four touchdowns to six interceptions and only had a 6.4 yards per attempt. Already missing Jerick McKinnon and with Marquise Goodwin not healthy, this season looks like it could be over before it started. I’m still interested in Matt Breida because he’s the better back ahead of Alfred Morris and he’ll be involved in the passing game.

Breida is the only player that might actually see an upgrade because in 2017, Beathard targeted Carlos Hyde on 22 percent of his attempts. The hope would be George Kittle becomes the security blanket as well, but that’s kind of a guess right now. Goodwin, Pierre Garcon and Morris really get hit hard here. Maybe we can see something out of Dante Pettis? Sometimes second string quarterbacks have their best chemistry with the third receiver, because they work with them a bit more than the starters.

NFC South – Fantasy Football Week 3

Atlanta Falcons – Loss vs New Orleans Saints, 43-37

Well, this game had some serious fantasy goodness. If you went up against Matt Ryan, we’ll see you next week. The one glaring exception to the fantasy explosion – Julio Jones. He might be one of the best receivers in football but he’s got to be one of the more confounding fantasy players around. In his last 19 regular season games, he’s got three touchdowns. Calvin Ridley has four…in the past two weeks. He pretty much broke the DFS slate when he dropped a 7/146/3 line yesterday and led the Falcons in targets. Oh, Jones also finished behind Mohamed Sanu in targets as well.

On a day where Matt Ryan threw for five touchdowns, Jones was left in the cold once again. If you can get another one of the high-end receivers, I might think about it and wash my hands of Jones. Ridley is in the WR3 conversation right now and will be one of the headliners in the waiver wire this week. Tevin Coleman was shut down on the ground for just 33 rushing yards but saved his day with a receiving touchdown. He’s still a starter for as long as Devonta Freeman is out. The Atlanta offense is dangerous right now and it would just be nice if Julio could join the high scoring fun.

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New Orleans Saints – Win vs Atlanta Falcons, 43-37 

The Saints might have two of the best receivers in football right now. Michael Thomas continues his absolutely torrid start to the season, catching another 10 balls for 129 yards on 10 targets. He has a 98 percent catch rate, which is coming down at some point and is absolutely nuts. The other receiver just happens to play running back and Alvin Kamara saw a massive 20 targets on Sunday. He totaled 190 yards on 15 receptions and 16 carries. The Saints were in a shootout and needed the win so I wouldn’t expect that level of touches very often this year. We’ve got one more week until Mark Ingram gets back from suspension and there’s a definitive role for him to come back to. Drew Brees continues to just be unreal every single week, completing over 80 percent of his passes this year and throwing eight touchdowns to zero interceptions. Rumors of his demise have been greatly exaggerated from last year and he’s a top-tier fantasy quarterback. This is the NFC version of the Chiefs, with a great offense and a questionable defense. It’s perfect for fantasy.

Carolina Panthers – Win vs Cincinnati Bengals, 31-21 

Lost in the fireworks of the Falcons/Saints game, there was a major development from the Panthers offense. If you had told me before games kicked off that Christian McCaffrey would have 194 total yards, I would have bet at least 100 came in the passing game. I would have been totally wrong as McCaffrey racked up 184 rushing yards on 28 carries. Perhaps the Panthers were serious with getting him 25-30 touches a game. Maybe now we can stop pretending that McCaffrey can’t run the ball as well. The most amount of carries he’s ever been given until yesterday was 15 so he’s not really been given the workload to do it.

Cam Newton had a perfectly Cam Newton game which means his passing stats were fairly poor but he saved the day with 36 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. Seeing as how Newton passed for very little yardage, none of his receivers jumped out. It was disappointing to see D.J. Moore only get two targets again after Ron Rivera said he deserved more. We’ll see if at least we can take some solace in a snap percentage raise later this week. It can be frustrating as an owner of any piece of this passing game but Devin Funchess is always in flex consideration.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers – TBD 

I certainly don’t think Ryan Fitzpatrick will keep up his pace of throwing for 400 yards and four touchdowns but I also don’t expect this game to be the one where he stinks either. The Steelers defense has been flat-out awful and the passing game should be able to have their way with them tonight.

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